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Funeral Tomorrow for Whitney Houston; Man Accused of Plot on U.S. Capitol; General Motors Giving Fat Bonuses; Catholics Most Exclusive Club; Bill Cosby Performs For Tuition; Mom Forces Son To Walk To School
Aired February 17, 2012 - 15:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(PRESIDENT OBAMA'S REMARKS SENT IN PREVIOUS HOUR)
HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Well, just this week, the vice president of China was visiting the United States and, of course, met with President Barack Obama, and the trade relationship between these two countries in many cases thorny.
Here, you're listening to President Barack Obama in Everett, Washington. He's at a Boeing production facility addressing the workers and the machinists there and making several points about his plan to boost American exports abroad.
Also, this is not the only thing President Obama is doing in Washington. He has several fund-raising events for his reelection campaign. So, we're going to leave that live event right now that is occurring in Washington State.
I'm Hala Gorani. I'm in for Brooke Baldwin this hour.
(NEWS BREAK)
GORANI: Let's get to Jason Carroll now live from Newark, New Jersey, where flags are at half-staff for Whitney Houston. Her funeral is tomorrow.
And, Jason, today, Houston's family had some personal time to pay their respects to the singer.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Hala.
What we're hearing is that a private viewing is taking place or will take place at a certain point today at Wingham funeral home located just about 10 minutes from where I am now. We had a moment to go over to the funeral home just a little earlier. When I was out there, you saw -- I saw a large police presence in front.
They were putting up barricades. In addition to that, on the side of the funeral home, some sort of a white tent was set up, so if people were to come there and wanted privacy, they would be able to have that. The Wingham funeral home is not confirming that, but this is a source that is telling us that a private viewing is, in fact -- will take place today. In terms of what's happening where I am now at the church, at the New Hope Baptist Church, it's really what's going to be happening tomorrow. That is when we're going to have the private service for Whitney Houston. As you can imagine, a number of people still out here, they are gathering, they're bringing flowers and balloons.
People, Hala, are really getting the sense this is the last moments that they're really going to have before the funeral to pay their respects because when the service does take place here tomorrow, the closest the public will be able to get will be at least two blocks away.
Obviously, a lot of folks are upset that there's not going to be a public service. But not everybody is upset. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm happy that the family took the position of making it private because this is her. This is who she really is. This is who she really is. And the family has the right to do it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I understand where the family's coming from when they're asking for their privacy, so, yes, even though I wish, too, that a little bit of something would have been for the public.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: And, Hala, the guest list just keeps growing in terms of who will be performing tomorrow during the service. Folks like Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys also will be performing.
Kevin Costner, her co-star from "The Bodyguard," will be speaking tomorrow as well. There had been some question in terms of whether or not Bobby Brown would be here tomorrow. But we are now hearing, despite all of the rumors from before, that he, too, will be attending.
Once again, it will be a private ceremony, not open to the public. Police are saying anyone wishing to come by should simply stay away and, instead, watch and pay your respects from home.
GORANI: All right, thank you.
I have a special guest this hour, Bill Cosby. We will talk about how much the cost of on a quality education is getting to be and more. So stick around for that.
Plus, is this character building or just plain mean? A mother makes her son walk to school after he gets kicked off the bus. See if you agree with how all of this was handled.
And a significant step for one of America's most prominent Catholic leaders. Archbishop Timothy Dolan about to be elevated to cardinal at the Vatican just hours from now.
We will be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: We're going to go back live to Washington, D.C., where our Brian Todd has more information on an arrest that was made in an alleged bomb plot near the U.S. Capitol.
Brian, I understand you have more information on the identity of the suspect in this case. What can you tell us?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Hala.
We do have the name of the suspect. We're told by a law enforcement official the suspect's name is Amine Khalifi. He's identified as a 29-year-old Moroccan who is living in Alexandria, Virginia. According to a law enforcement official, he was living in the U.S. illegally. This official said he had various targets in mind for this alleged plot and that he had finally settled on the Capitol.
He had previously considered, according to this official, a military installation, a synagogue and a restaurant where military and government people would be likely to gather. But he finally settled on the U.S. Capitol Building, according to a law enforcement official.
This official says that Mr. Khalifi came to the attention of law enforcement because of extremist views that he had espoused and that in December, he had started -- quote -- "moving down the path towards conducting an attack." That's a quote from the law enforcement official.
This official told us that at the point of his arrest, he thought that he had met al Qaeda members who would assist him, but they turned out to be undercover agents. This official said that he's been under close watch for the past couple of months and that the public was not in danger from this plot.
Today, as the suspect was meeting with undercover agents, he had arranged to meet them at a parking garage near Capitol Hill. He thought he was going to be picking up a suicide vest. That vest, we're told, was rendered inoperable by law enforcement. That is at the point where he was arrested.
The suspect, we have a name now, Amine Khalifi, a 29-year-old Moroccan national living illegally in the United States, who had tried to -- at least according to one law enforcement official, had various targets in mind, but finally settled on the U.S. Capitol Building and was thwarted in that attempt.
GORANI: All right, thanks very much there, Brian Todd, with the latest on this investigation that led to an arrest in an alleged bomb plot, targeting the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. With us, Brian was reporting there a name on the suspect, a 29-year-old Moroccan, Amine Khalifi. Thanks very much, Brian.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY SHADID, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": I think there are some stories that are worth taking risks for. And it is a little bit of a cliche, but I think there is some meaning to it, that, you know, unless you're there covering it, no one is going to know about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Words Anthony Shadid lived and died by. Next, I will speak with Anthony's father. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: We have distressing news for our industry and really for anyone interested and a consumer of high-quality journalism.
It happened in Syria today. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anthony Shadid has died making the dangerous trek from Syria into Turkey. Shadid had entered Syria without a visa to cover the revolt Against President Bashar al-Assad. His employer, "The New York Times," says the cause of Shadid's death is not precisely clear, but there are strong indications that the 43-year-old reporter may have suffered an asthma attack brought on by exposure to the horses being used by his guides.
This is a huge loss for readers around the globe, but an even bigger loss, of course, to the loved ones of Anthony Shadid.
Joining us now on the phone from Oklahoma City, Buddy Shadid is Anthony's father.
First off, Mr. Shadid, really all our heartfelt condolences to you on this very tragic day.
BUDDY SHADID, FATHER OF ANTHONY SHADID: Thank you.
GORANI: I suppose one of the things that I heard that you said is that there is some measure of comfort that, after the passing of your son, truly his entire profession just went into immediate mourning. He was admired by so many, including myself.
Your son truly, some are saying, probably the best reporter of his generation.
SHADID: Thank you.
GORANI: Tell us how you were told and really over the last few hours how difficult this has been.
SHADID: His wife called me. He was in Turkey with their son, waiting for him to come out of Syria. They were going on a vacation. And they were all excited. And they called her there on her cell phone and she called me. And I couldn't believe it. I...
GORANI: So very sorry for your loss.
SHADID: He had been in so many hot spots. They always sent him to all the hot spots and -- because he understood the language and he felt like he could cover the story better than anybody else. And I have gone through this I don't know how many times, and in the West Bank, and in Egypt, into Libya, everywhere. It's always dangerous. And he always made it out.
GORANI: Yes.
SHADID: And I was afraid of bullets and bombs before. And to find out that he died of an asthma attack was a shock. Friends and everyone loved him. He never talked to anybody that wasn't his friend and that admired him.
And he admired everybody. He just didn't have a -- he was a humble man. He was dedicated to being a journalist. He wanted to be a journalist all his life. He wanted to be the best. And he was the best.
GORANI: He truly was.
Buddy Shadid, these are things that you tell people when they have lost loved ones. Sometimes, you say them for comfort. In this case, we say it because it's true. There really isn't a member of our profession who's covered the Arab world who has not said over the last 24 hours that Anthony Shadid was the best at what he did. And, truly, the world has lost an amazing journalist.
SHADID: The world lost an amazing journalist, and I lost a beloved son that I never asked anything of him that he didn't answer. He was the best at everything he did. If he was a wrestler, he was the best. He was a football player, he was the best. He was a scholar, he was the best.
GORANI: Truly an amazing person.
Now, what were his wishes? And I don't know if you had this conversation. I mean, you usually don't have conversations like this with someone in their 40s. But did he ever express a desire if the worst should happen? I mean, all of us who cover conflict zones have a concern sometimes, what if we don't make it? Did he tell you what his wishes were?
SHADID: He told his wife that he wanted to be cremated and his ashes spread in my grandparents' home in Shededda (ph), Lebanon.
That was his wish that she relayed to me. And we have a family plot here that, if we carry out his wishes, I will take part of his ashes, and I will have a footstone and bury the ashes there with him. Me and his wife are wanting to do what he wanted. And that's what he wanted. And I'm sure that's what we will end up doing. Even though we might not really want to do that, we will try to fulfill his wishes.
GORANI: Thank you so much, Buddy Shadid. This is such an extremely difficult day for you.
Of course, Anthony had two children as well, including a very young son, so this again looking forward to the life of that young boy who really won't have an opportunity to know his father. Buddy Shadid, joining us on the phone from Oklahoma City on the death of an amazing journalist, Anthony Shadid, thank you so much.
SHADID: Thank you.
GORANI: And, again, our condolences.
SHADID: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
GORANI: We will be right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Remember when the government used your money to bail out the auto industry. Well, now General Motors is recording record profits, so that's good, right? But it's also handing out fat bonuses to 47,000 union workers.
But, wait, the taxpayers still own a big chunk of GM. When are they going to see the return from their investment?
Let's bring in Alisa Priddle, the auto reporter for "The Detroit Free Press."
All right, so, Alisa, GM has the money to hand out $7,000 bonuses to union workers, which is good for the workers. They take the money, they spend it, it helps the economy, right? But what about the taxpayers?
ALISA PRIDDLE, "THE DETROIT FREE PRESS": Absolutely.
GORANI: Yes.
PRIDDLE: Well, I mean, it all depends on how you want to look at it.
The multiplier effect has suggested that every one of those workers who go out with their check will generate double that amount in the economy somewhere. So, that spins off. That goes into the local sub shop, and to the dentist's office and everywhere else, which was I guess one of the rationales of bailing out the auto industry in the first place, just because there is no other industry that for every single job creates so many spinoff jobs.
GORANI: OK. So what should taxpayers then expect from a company like GM? What should they expect from their government in terms of getting their money back because of the bailout payouts?
PRIDDLE: Well, one of the things they will have to wait for is the GM stock to rise. When they went public again, the stock was at $33 a share. It has been rebounding since the news of the record earnings yesterday. It was topping $27 today.
But the Treasury is not likely to sell any of its 16 percent stake unless at least psychologically you hit that $33 mark. And, really, to break even, it really needs to be at $53. That's unrealistic. The government is going to take a hit. But I think they want to manage just how much of a hit they take.
GORANI: What is GM saying then in defense of these bonuses?
PRIDDLE: Well, the one thing that they changed in these bonuses is that they are now more closely tied to performance. If the workers help GM be a more productive, profitable company, then they share in the largess. As a result, it's directionally proportional.
When you look at those record earnings, the main driver of that was profit derived by auto operations in North America. They lost money in Europe, in South America. It is still here that they are making the money and creating the jobs.
GORANI: Right.
Well, that's an interesting point, because if the profit comes from North America, not from Europe, where some of these subsidiaries are losing money -- other parts of the world like Asia had big issues with the floods in Thailand, for instance. What's the strategy for GM going forward, then?
PRIDDLE: Well, they have to be a global company to be successful. And the biggest thing on their plate is fixing Europe and to a lesser degree fixing South America.
In South America, the products are getting kind of old. And they're in the process of replacing them. That will adjust that. In Europe, what they need to do is duplicate what they have done here in North America. They need to go in there and work with the unions and cut down capacity. They need to close plants.
They have contracts that say they can't close plants until 2014. They're looking to see if they can open those up and stem those losses because that is really draining their bottom line. But North America is going gangbusters. And what was promising in the fourth-quarter results, even though the quarter wasn't as strong, there were really nice glimpses, such as $500 million in savings because they're getting more efficient when they do their spending in advertising.
In engineering, they're getting better economies of scale. These are good signs going forward that this is a company that has restructured and is managing its business better than it did when it got into so much trouble and needed a bailout.
GORANI: Well, let me ask you one last question about these bonuses because Bloomberg -- and we mentioned how the $7,000 goes back into the economy. Bloomberg is reporting that these bonuses could help actually have a tangible effect on the economies of Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky. So, how much is there to that?
PRIDDLE: Oh, it absolutely will boost the economy.
As we said at the start, they figured that each $7,000 check could generate as much as $20,000 out there in the community. And, psychologically, people are just feeling better. We need them to get out there and buy cars again. GORANI: OK, thanks very much, Alisa Priddle, the auto reporter for "The Detroit Free Press," for joining us on CNN.
Well, where are the women? That's what one lawmaker wants to know. We asked that very question right before she walked out of a hearing on all -- on, of all things, birth control and religious liberty. You'll hear about that straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: More fireworks today after a Capitol Hill hearing that prompted two congresswomen to walk out. It all started yesterday at a House hearing on religious liberty and the Obama administration's new birth control policy.
Take a close look at this panel. The woman you see there on the end, well, she's not part of it. The five men sitting side by side, that is the panel. And remember, they're on Capitol Hill to testify about birth control and religion. New York Representative Carolyn Maloney posed this question before walking out. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. CAROLYN MALONEY (D), NEW YORK: What I want to know is, where are the women? When I look at this panel, I don't see one single woman representing the tens of millions of women across the country who want and need insurance coverage for basic preventive health care insurance, including family planning. Where are the women?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: The hearing was chaired by California Republican Darrell Issa. All five men invited to take part in the discussion of birth control and the government are from conservative religious organizations. Listen to Matthew Harrison. He's a Lutheran minister from Missouri.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. MATTHEW HARRISON, LUTHERAN CHURCH-MISSOURI SYNOD: We must obey God rather than men, and we will. Please get the federal government, Mr. Chairman, out of our consciences.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: And this is what the panel heard from a Baptist minister.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. CRAIG MITCHELL, SOUTHWESTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: It's wrong because it violates the Constitution. It's wrong because it violates religious liberty. It's wrong because it forces people to violate their consciences. It is wrong because it's more expensive. This plain ruling is just plain wrong for America.
(END VIDEO CLIP) GORANI: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi jumped into the fray, urging supporters to sign a petition demanding that House Republican leaders allow women to have a voice in women's health issues. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), MINORITY LEADER: Where are the women? And that's a good question for the whole debate. Where are the women? Where are the women on that panel? Imagine, they're having a panel on women's health and they don't have any women on the panel. Duh. What is it that men don't understand about women's health and how central the issue of family planning is to that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Now, to be fair, the five men made up the morning panel. Two women were part of the afternoon panel. But none of the 10 testifying before the committee spoke in favor of the Obama administration's birth control insurance decision. The two Democratic women tried to get a witness added who favors birth control services, but were refused, thus the walkout.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: Had he not been a catholic bishop, he probably would have been a United States senator or a corporate CEO or the host of a late night TV talk show.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Archbishop Timothy Dolan has a new job. One that could put him in line to be the next pope.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: This weekend, New York's archbishop will join an organization that's been around for nearly 1,000 years. Archbishop Timothy Dolan will be elevated to the catholic church's College of Cardinals. That means he not only will help decide who becomes the next pope, but it also possibly puts him in line for the job. Brooke Baldwin has this profile.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARCHBISHOP TIMOTHY DOLAN, ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW YORK: Thanks, everybody.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan is getting a big promotion this weekend in Rome. He's being elevated to the College of Cardinals at the Vatican.
JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: You become eligible to vote for the next pope. And, in many cases, he also become, at least informally, a candidate to be the next pope.
BALDWIN: Dolan will remain the leader of New York's 2.6 million catholics, where he is equal parts pastor, celebrity and politician. When the move was announced, Dolan demurred.
DOLAN: It's almost as if Pope Benedict XVI is putting the red hat of the cardinal on top of the Empire State Building.
BALDWIN: But CNN Vatican analyst John Allen says, while humility was the card to play, Dolan is uniquely qualified.
ALLEN: Had he not been a catholic bishop, he probably would have been a United States senator or a corporate CEO or the host of a late night TV talk show. I mean Benedict XVI has indicated, in basically every way a pope can, that he really likes this guy and wants him to play a very prominent role in catholic affairs, not just in the United States but around the world.
BALDWIN: Dolan is not immune from critics. Survivor networks of those abused by priests called him the Teflon prelay (ph) because he allowed a priest in New York, accused of sexual misconduct, to retire quietly. Dolan responded that some criticism of the church was fair.
DOLAN: All we ask is that it be fair. And that the catholic church not be singled out for a horror that has cursed every culture, religion, organization, institution, school, agency and family in the world.
BALDWIN: For the next two years, Dolan will continue as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
DOLAN: That's a foul ball by any standard.
BALDWIN: In January, he stepped up on the political stage and challenged the White House over an insurance mandate that forced religious institutions, except for houses of worship, to pay for contraceptives. He framed it as a religious liberty issue.
DOLAN: The federal government should do what it's transitionally done since July 4, 1776, namely back out of intruding into the internal life of a church.
BALDWIN: The White House changed course and extended the religious exemption to other organizations and will force insurers, rather than the religious institutions, to pay for contraceptives. But that may still not be enough for the bishops.
SISTER SIMONE CAMPBELL, PRESIDENT, NETWORK: Because the bishop's role is to protect vigilantly the institution of the church and what the church says in the theories of how we should be best as the people of God.
BALDWIN: Senior Simone Campbell is the president of Network, a catholic social justice lobby in Washington. While it agrees with the bishops on immigration and poverty, her group opposed the bishop's stance on the new health care law and its contraception mandates.
CAMPBELL: These very points are the tension points within our church because it's the application of faith to a democratic culture.
BALDWIN: For Dolan, the elevation to cardinal means his voice will speak even louder in the public square on that application of faith.
Brooke Baldwin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Archbishop Dolan is not the only American who's joining the College of Cardinals. The archbishop of Baltimore, Edwin O'Brien, will also become a cardinal this weekend at the Vatican.
When we come back, my next guest has spent years promoting higher education and now he's putting his talents to good use to make it possible for dozens of students. Bill Cosby joins me live, next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Comic giant Bill Cosby is used to making pitches. Remember his days selling Jello pudding? The ads are all over YouTube, of course.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL COSBY: Moms, you know how the kids love Jello pudding. And you know it's made with fresh milk. So it's wholesome. And you haven't made Jello pudding for them since --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last night.
COSBY: Last -- what? Kids love Jello brand pudding, remember.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Tonight he's trying to sell something much more important than pudding, obviously. The need to have a college education. He's going to perform the first of two concerts at Miles College in Birmingham, Alabama. Cosby will raise $250,000 that will go toward tuition for 100 students there.
Bill Cosby joins me now live from Birmingham.
Thanks for being with us, Bill Cosby.
First, I want to ask you about these reports that you were invited to attend the funeral of Whitney Houston. Are you going to attend?
BILL COSBY, ACTOR/COMEDIAN: I may have been invited. I -- nothing came to me from any of the offices. I don't know. But I think somebody told me a picture showed -- and whatever. But I have to be in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I have two shows tomorrow, 3:00 and 7:00. And I will not be at the funeral.
GORANI: I see.
COSBY: But these rumor things just sort of get out there. The answer is, no.
GORANI: Well, and the rumors and, of course, the speculation surrounds her death still. I mean until we have an absolutely final cause of death. What were your first thoughts when you heard of her passing last week?
COSBY: Well, I wasn't surprised because of the gossip surrounding her trying to -- to get to sobriety, fighting health problems related to sedation, or whatever it is. And it's been loaded. And we all rooted for her. And so when it's -- the news came out that at age 48 she passed, it wasn't -- it wasn't really a shock. Not -- I mean, I don't mean I felt that she was going to early, but it just wasn't a shock. It is a great, obviously, loss. And for a talent like that to -- to be shut off before we can actually -- because 48 is quite young.
GORANI: Right.
COSBY: She's -- she should be entering a maturity, a deeper understanding of love, life, happiness and using her instrument, the voice.
GORANI: Yes.
COSBY: And it's cut down early.
GORANI: OK. Yes, well, and, indeed, 48. Certainly too young, too young to die, though. As you said there, for many, was not a huge shock. Still, though, a sad passing.
Let's get back to your initiative, then, to raise all this money for the student at Miles College. Now why specifically Miles College?
COSBY: Because the president, President French -- I received an honorary degree so -- less than a year ago. And we were talking. And I said, look, if you can put it together, if you can work a benefit, I will perform. I don't want anything except gas money for that big heavy plane. And I will come in. I don't -- you're not to pay me. And there's nothing under the table either. Maybe I'll walk out with a free sweatsuit. But --
GORANI: Not bad.
COSBY: You see the -- historically, black colleges are so wonderful at taking people who may come from those neighborhoods where even the salutatorian, the valedictorian, the top 10 wind up remedial math, remedial English, remedial writing. And way before there was any ADD and ADHD letters that applied to, or dyslexia, our colleges worked with our kids.
GORANI: Yes.
COSBY: And soon they picked up and they were able to work at the elitist white schools that would accept them.
GORANI: All right. Well, thanks very much, Bill Cosby, for joining us there live from Miles College with you giving your time there to that institution in order to help raise funds and raise awareness to the importance of a college education.
COSBY: Thank you.
GORANI: Thanks very much, Bill Cosby. A pleasure talking to you.
COSBY: Thank you.
GORANI: All right, bye.
Character building or just plain mean? A mother makes her son walk to school after he got kicked off the bus. See if you agree with this kind of parenting. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: On the case. This 10 years old boy's school bus privileges are suspended for yelling five times. His mother wants to teach him a lesson. She says to him, fine, if you're kicked off the bus, walk to school. It's four and a half miles, by the way. The security guards sees the boy walking alone and calls police. So what do you think happens next? Please drive the boy to school, then promptly go ticket his mother. She could get a year in jail and $1,000 fine. Criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor Joey Jackson is here.
Well, OK, so some people might say, look, if you were naughty on the bus and you get kicked off, then you just walk to school. What's the problem?
JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY AND FMR. PROSECUTOR: Listen, the bottom line here is that, you know, let me come to the defense of this mother. This mother may be many things. A criminal she's not. She's obviously frustrated. The child had been suspended a number of times. She's at wit's ends. She doesn't know what else to do. So as a result of it, she tells her 10-year-old, you know what, as opposed to getting kicked off again, you walk. So, he does. And as a result of that, the police pick him up and now they want to throw his poor mother in jail.
GORANI: Right.
JACKSON: Maybe a little schooling. Maybe a little intervention. But, no, no crime. Don't send her to jail.
GORANI: Four and a half miles, though. I mean some might say, come on. Listen to what police and the child have to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. LYLE WATERWORTH, JONESBORO, ARKANSAS, POLICE: Ask yourself the question, is that safe for the child? And if you wouldn't want your child doing it, you probably -- you know, we probably don't need somebody else's child doing it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She did the right thing. She knew that I had been suspended, off (ph) the list for five days. So she didn't do no wrong. She made me walk. I just had to walk. They should have never picked me up. I could have walked by myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: I have to say, it doesn't hurt that the kid's about the cutest thing you've ever seen. So what happens now with the mother?
JACKSON: Absolutely.
GORANI: What happens now with the mother?
JACKSON: Well, technically speaking, Hala, yes, it is recklessness endangerment because you're putting the kid at risk as a result of the long walk to school. Anything could happen. He could encounter horrific people who could do unimaginable things to him. And so, yes, we don't want to condone this and say it's appropriate for the mother to do so. Is it bad judgment? Absolutely.
She'll go to court. I would suggest that the authorities intervene. They say, you know what, she's frustrated. She exercised bad judgment. We'll get an intervention for the family going. She'll live happily ever after.
But this poor kid needs his mom. He's comes to her defense in wonderful ways. And so, therefore, I would hate to see her spend a single day in jail as a result of this bad judgment act. It certainly isn't criminal.
She's a frustrated person. What else would she do. She's had -- she's full of anxiety. She doesn't want him to get kicked off. She tries to teach him a lesson and it backfires, Hala. You know, what can do you?
GORANI: Well, I don't know when you were a kid --
JACKSON: It's an imperfect world.
GORANI: I don't know when you were a kid how you got to school, but guess what, I walked.
JACKSON: I walked to school all the time.
GORANI: Yes. Exactly. Maybe not four and a half miles. All right, the mother, as you said, will be in court a week from Monday.
Joey Jackson, thanks very much.
"THE SITUATION ROOM" with Candy Crowley starts now.
